But she's been happily surprised by the new personalities and talents she's discovered, and the prospect of using them in new ways. ''I love them and I will find roles for them,'' she says.

OUT OF NOWHERE

Maungsai Somboon, for instance, an earnest graduate student from Thailand, has turned out to be stupendous in wig and bathing suit, lip-syncing Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On from Titanic. ''He's hilarious, and he came out of nowhere,'' Herrera says.

If there is a lot of cultural and linguistic translation going on, everyone seems happy to learn. ''I need a little more Material Girl here,'' Herrera tells the three men who are toting and tossing petite Taiwanese dancer Naihsuan Yng (everyone calls her Sunny) in the cake scene. Yng may be vague on her Madonna music video history, but she understands Drowning. ''When I saw her movement, I really like it,'' Yng says in hesitant English. ''I think I really can do it. [It's] not so much about dancing but what she feels about her life.'' She frowns. ``But I think I never eat cake again.''

Herrera is well aware of the potential benefits of appearing at the American Dance Festival, especially for someone who works outside the dance epicenter of New York. Chinese choreographer Shen Wei, a discovery of Reinhart's, launched his company at the festival eight years ago and has since become one of the most celebrated artists in modern dance, choreographing for the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics and opening this year's festival with a major evening length premiere.

But nothing is certain. And as much as Herrera is enjoying herself, she is apprehensive about leaving this creative haven for the struggle of an artist's life in Miami. But she has no doubt she'll return.

''Miami is home. That's where the bodies are that move me,'' Herrera says. ``It's that mezcla [mix] of the water and Latin and Haitian and African-American and American, a strong drag community, a strong gay community. Just as my work is the reflection of my serendipitous performance experiences, Miami is a reflection of these serendipitous experiences. So hopefully ADF will bring opportunities to me.''

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